Guidelines, rules, and principles to live by are just words – unless you actually live by them. To be the trusted and respected leader whom others will want to follow, you must…practice what you preach.

15 comments:

Hey all, I was reading Jason's post after FGB and I have to say that I couldn't agree with him more. Continue to hold yourselves to the highest standard and remember what it really means to RX. I learned this lesson big time last Saturday and I appreciate even more now what this means and how our coaches hold us to this. Stay true to your form and all aspects of the move, not just the weight. Don't count those attempts, only count the real thing. It will only help you to improve more.

A coaches note on this workout. I would not treat this as a strength WOD. Snatch balances are a SKILL used to improve your level of comfort under a loaded bar and also quickly getting into the hole. Do not add weight just to add weight. As your snatch balance goes up, so too will your snatch but don't do two and then add weight and do two and add weight. I would experiment a little bit and find a weight that is challenging for you but doable and then do repeated sets AT THIS WEIGHT so that you get comfortable with that specific weight above your head. Take note of this weight and the next time we do these, add a couple pounds and get comfortable with that weight. Make sense? Questions, just ask.

Mel - when I was doing FGB last night I thought of you. We know I have the fear of the box. In round 1 - i got no rx jump, in round 2 I got 7 stepups and 8 jump, round 3 I kicked ass and got 20 rx jumps.

I will never forget the day that I thought I had Rx'd my first workout. I was like "RX baby! Hell yeah". Jason, who was not coaching by the way, walks up to me quietly and says "technically you were jerking it, not push pressing" and then he walks away.

My heart sank with sadness and tears welled up in my eyes. Alas, I would have to wait another day for my first rx.

But that's why I love you Jason. You keep me honest, even if it hurts my feelings. That's what true friends are. They call you out when you need it rather than letting you pretend that you are "all that".

(This story may have been exaggerated slightly to make it more interesting)

Some of the standards are hard to tell on your own self. I have seen a lot of box jumps in the last week that I would not have counted as a judge but i am sure those box jumpers couldn't tell. same goes for depth in the squat. I now know what below parallel feels like (no more butt ball) but when i start to get tired i can't gauge it as well.

We are challanged to hold ourselves to the standard, and apply the RX if we think it is valid (on the majority of days when we don't have counters) I think there are times when folks are really thinking they rxed it and then the coaches give them a DC. Its not that they don't want to be in integerity they truly don't realize it.

I don't know what the solutions is other than an effort to communicate why the DC to that person after class or on the blog. And for crossfitters to not take the DC personally...its about getting better...like i said you can't see yourself....your coach or counter can.

it is important to realize that i say these things only so that progress can be tracked. if your standards are always changing, how will you ever know progress?

for instance, i do fgb and score 250 but literally 3 of my 50 wall balls legitimately get above the 10 foot line. next time i do fgb, i score a 230 but ALL of my reps are above the 10 foot line. although it looks like i regressed, i became a LOT better. with all of the workouts that we do, it is impossible for you to remember that you did 50 wall balls and 9 touched the 10 foot line, 27 barely got to it and the 14 just cleared the 9.

you can hear when i coach that i say things like, clear that line, or get that depth...usually it is corrected for 1 few reps but once you get tired, it typically goes right back to partial rom. so, if you hear me say that twice to you over a few minutes, it is very likely that few, if any of the reps would count for a strict Rx.

here is the kicker, what does it matter? it doesn't, getting a 250 fgb with partial rom is still a GRUELLING workout. you still did awesome and you should still be very proud of your effort. if you were dying at the end, you performed fgb. be proud. be hungry for the next time when you either get closer to or get the elusive rx.

i don't buy the argument that we don't know that we are doing it. you know when you lock out above your head, you know when you jerk something because it is too heavy, we can clearly see a ball not crossing a line. if you have a counter, they are typically counting out loud, no rep yourself. say no. it sucks, i know. there is nothing worse than doing work that does not technically count towards your score. use that as motivation. feed off of it.

i cannot stress this enough. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH SCALING. YOU ARE NOT INFERIOR TO ANYONE DOING RX. YOU ARE STILL GETTING A GREAT WORKOUT. YOU CAN SURELY HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH WHEN YOU LEAVE.

i have been doing this for 2.5 years and there are still wods that i scale. it gives us something to strive for. if you cut reps, dont have full rom, or don't use the proper weight, it is a scale or DC....it is NOT failure.

For FGB I am not sure on my wallball squat depth since its something that lately has been brought to my attention that I don't always go low enough - I was thinking about it and trying, and I know my first set was solid - its sets 2 and 3 that I'm not sure of. I do know that the ball went over the line - I love 8ft wallballs!

im going to defer to the butt ball for wall balls for awhile..after checking in with aimee not all of my reps would have counted on the wall balls because of squat depth.

I agree with jason for most movements you can tell if you are getting full ROM. But squat depth is tricky. especially after you are fully capapble of achieving full depth everytime. I honestly cannot tell especially when i am moving at full intensity...and even when going slow on a strength day. I need feedback from counter and coaches and perhaps a butt ball for this.

however the infamous wall squats will be helping to elimainate this problem! Day 32.

I have to agree with Laura, on my 2nd and 3rd round I am not sure if I had the right depth in my squat. I may have not gone below parellel in a squat, but I am not sure. Dorothy - I tried that club, but my knees were not happy with me...

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World Class Fitness in 100 Words:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.-Greg Glassman